The Swans Oral History, Sacrifice and Transcendence by Nick Soulsby, is out now. JG Thirlwell was interviewed extensively for the book about his involvement with the group. Thirlwell regards Swans as one of the most important groups of the last thirty years, and has a long friendship with their leader Michael Gira. There has been a lot of cross-fertilization between the Swans and the Foetus live bands, with many musicians being members of both, including Norman Westberg, Algis Kizys, Ted Parsons and Vinnie Signorelli. In addition, Thirlwell started his Wiseblood project with former Swans drummer Roli Mosimann. The Swans song “Jim” from the album My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky is about Thirlwell. You can buy it now at Amazon or wherever good books are sold, as they say!
Tag: Michael Gira
LIMB CD + DVD + 48-Page Booklet Released!
The long awaited LIMB is now available exclusively at the online shop on this website. LIMB is an archival release of experimental and minimalist compositions recorded from 1980-1983, from the early days of Foetus and pre-Foetus. Though the material is largely unreleased, some of the pieces have been previously released on the compilation albums by Coil and United Dairies. Released as a deluxe double disc package, the music disc contains 12 tracks at 50+ minutes with an additional 20 minute bonus mp3 track. On the second disc, director Clement Tuffreau kindly allowed us to include his 2005 documentary about JG Thirlwell, NYC FOETUS, with this package. The eighty minute film features interviews with JG Thirlwell, Matt Johnson, Alex Hacke (Einsturzende Neubauten), Michael Gira, Richard Kern, Lydia Lunch, Martin Bisi and Elysian Fields along with a lot of never before seen footage of Foetus, Steroid Maximus, Manorexia and more. There is also 45 minutes of bonus extras, comprised of Steroid Maximus 18 piece ensemble live in France, Foetus live in Hannover, Manorexia live at The Stone NYC and a snippet of JG’s LEMUR commission at 3 Legged Dog in NYC. This deluxe package also contains a 48 page perfect bound book with minimal designs by JGT (all in his signature red, white, gray and black palette). This is all held in an attractive sturdy plastic slipcase printed with another of JG’s designs. Click the shop link for more details and audio previews.